The Nigeria Labour Congress has announced a two-day warning strike, even as it accused the federal government of abandoning negotiations in response to the impact of the fuel subsidy removal on Nigerian workers.
The strike is set to begin on Tuesday, September 5 in protest against the Federal Government’s neglect of the challenges Nigerians are facing as a result of the subsidy removal.
NLC President Joe Ajaero made this declaration at a press conference on Friday at the Labour House in Abuja, based on resolutions reached at the NEC meeting the previous day.
The labor union alleges that the federal government has given up on negotiations and failed to implement some of the agreements reached during earlier meetings with the government.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidies in his inaugural speech on May 29. This led to an immediate increase in fuel prices and other essential commodities in Nigeria.
This triggered organised labour to stage a protest against Tinubu’s administration’s alleged anti-people policies on August 2nd.
The protest was witnessed in several states, including Lagos, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, Zamfara, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kwara, Ogun, Imo, Ondo, and Edo, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), organised by the National Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliate unions.
After the protest, organised labour groups gave the government a seven-day ultimatum in which they must “immediately reverse all anti-poor policies of the federal government, including the recent increase in PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) price, increase in public school fees, and release the eight months’ worth of withheld salaries for university lecturers and staff.”.
According to the union, Nigerians have lost their sense of security since the President’s inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, in which he stated that “subsidy is gone,” and they are demanding an increase in the minimum wage from N30,000 to N200,000.
The Presidency and the unions had several meetings to discuss relief measures for Nigerians who are suffering from economic hardship due to the end of the petrol subsidy, but the meetings were unsuccessful.
